avigation, in its present practical state,owes its origin and progress to the improvementsrecently made in the Steam Engine in this country.

The employment of animal power in the pro-pulsion of vessels by means of paddle-wheels is ofvery ancient date; and the substitution of steam forSame purpose was suggested as soon as the steam engine wasrendered effective in pumping water from mines, long before it wasfound capable, from its then imperfect state, of propelling a vesseladvantageously.;

Mr. R. Stuart, in his“ Anecdotes of the Steam Engine,’* informsus, that“ in some very ancient manuscripts extant in the King ofFrance’s library, it is said the boats by which the Roman armyunder Claudius Caudex was transported into Sicily were propelledby wheels moved by oxen. And in many old military treatises, theSubstitution of wheels for oars is mentioned.”

“ Robert Valturius gives a view of two galleys moved by wheels

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* Vol: i'p. 97. London, 1829.

1472.